A Choice of Stars
by fare-thee-well
Summary: The story of a young girl's choice between the night of her life and the adventure of a lifetime...which hand will she take? PeterxOC tame content but I'm being cautious with the rating
1. Chapter 1

**Hi** **guys!** **This** **is** **my first fanfic, nothing fancy, just a PeterxOC daydream of mine :) There will be a couple more chapters, so** **patience** **with** **my** **update** **schedule!**

**Enjoy!**

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I turn to the mirror, layers of silk and chiffon twisting around my legs. This night is a dream come true. So they tell me, at least. The ladies at the dress shop and the salon cooed and fussed over me for hours, spouting things like, "Oh, sweetie, your senior prom! Isn't it exciting?" and "This is one of the best nights of your life. Enjoy it!" I stare at my reflection. The best night of my life? I'd hate to think that this is as good as it gets...well, maybe they were right. I have been squeezed and pinned into the image of the princess every girl dreams of being. All traces of the child I recently resembled are tucked away for the night.

My hands smooth down the bodice of my dress, sliding over the rhinestones. My dream dress, red and luxurious. I've been told all afternoon that I look grown up, a lady at last. When did that happen? My hands halt at my waist, and I think of who else's hands will rest there tonight. My dream date. My friends were all jealous, and who would have guessed? The gods had seen fit to send me a miracle in the form of a prom invitation from Mr. Inaccessible himself. I should count myself lucky, but something seems wrong.

I take in my carefully done curls and too-perfect face. After a whole day of being fussed over, I've managed to escape to my room to really get ready.

In half an hour, the perfect boy will step in my door, smile at my parents, and sweep me away to the wonderland our teachers have created for us. My friends will fawn over my dress and my hair and my skin, and I will do the same for them. My date will chivalrously ask me to dance and kiss me during the slow song. _That's_ _all_ _part_ _of_ _the_ _experience,_ _right_? My eyes come back into focus as my thoughts are interrupted by a rustle near my window.

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**Will post the next chapters when I get them done! Thanks for reading, R&R please! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well I managed to get the second chapter up much faster than I'd thought! That was a productive history class ;) anyhow, the others will be up soon. As always, rate, review, and enjoy! :)**

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My head snaps to the right instinctively, but nothing is there. I squint and move closer, and a pair of green eyes pops up above my windowsill. I gasp at the sudden motion and they disappear again. "Is someone there?" I ask, inching toward the open window. "Yes" replies the voice, cautiously, and the green eyes reappear following a wild mass of blonde curls. "You can come out, I won't hurt you" I whisper. The eyes become a face that rises until I see, framed in the window with dogwood twigs in his hair, a boy.

Common sense would dictate, of course, that when a strange boy shows up in your bedroom window, you don't move closer, but I couldn't help it. He was beautiful, wild and unkempt, but with such a spirit in his smile that even the Southern sunset looked dulled.

"What is your name?" I ask the strange boy, as he steps down from my window seat and begins to look around my room. "Peter", the stranger replies, without looking up from my bookcase, "Peter Pan". A thrill races through me as I remember the nights spent wishing by my window on the star for the impossible. Quickly, I also remember my manners and curtsy. "It is lovely to meet you, Peter", I say as politely as I can, and the boy grins. He turns back to the trinkets in my room and I take the opportunity to study him.

He is tall, with the trademark blonde mess and skin naturally the shade models pay thousands for. It is obvious he is close to my age, but with a distinctly boyish light about his whole person. Though he is handsome, and aware of it, it is a child's pride he possesses, and I cannot be offended by it.

Suddenly Peter grins and leaps up to the windowsill. I rush after him, "Surely you're not leaving?" He only just arrived...he cannot leave. "Of course not" He replies imperiously, and plants two fists on his hips, "you are to learn how to fly." I gasp like a delighted child. "To fly! Oh yes please, Peter!" Despite himself, the boy grins and retrieves a handful of fairy dust from his pocket. "Now hold still," Peter says, concentrating, "or it won't work right."

I squeeze my eyes shut as he sprinkles the dust over my hair. When I look again, I have risen two feet off my floor! I giggle and smile until my mouth hurts, but then I hear a sound that brings me to the ground again.

My doorbell has rung, and the voice of a very polite young man floats through my bedroom door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again! All right, final chapter everybody! First and foremost, love like crazy to Starhey and starshortcake for reviewing and saying nice things about my writing :) R&R, as always! Enjoy! 3**

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Peter jumps at the noise and puts a hand on the dagger at his hip. My feet touch the floor as I realize what that voice means. "Who is that?" Peter asks sharply, and I motion for him to be quiet as I hear my mother giggle and call, "Sweetie? There's a lovely young man here for you!"

"I'm coming!" I yell as nicely as one can yell, and Peter looks confused. "Where are you going? Who is the young man?" I sigh and explain the situation to Peter. When I finish, something like sadness crosses his face for an instant, and then it changes to mischief, because he cannot stay troubled for long. He takes my hand, grinning and drawing me towards the window. "You don't have to go. Fly away to Neverland! Oh, you would love it. Running around all day with no one to stop you, fighting pirates, dancing with Indians! It's amazing!"

The laugh that follows fairly spills from Peter's mouth. The sound is pure joy at the thought of his home, his adventures...and the chance to have someone new to share it with. He looks at me expectantly, with that grin still lighting up his face. I take my hand from his and step back. I can't help it. I look back to the door. This is not a choice I ever thought I would have to make. Peter offers me adventure, the stars, a certainty of uncertainty. The voice beyond my door means security, an assured place with my peers, a normal existence.

Those are my options. Eternal, golden childhood, or the rest of my life. I look back at Peter. His face is so open, so trusting. I see nothing of that in the face of the young man in the hallway. No matter how much he smiles at my parents, he is still full of foolish pride and selfishness, always wanting. Peter looks so content. If I choose the young man, I know what is expected of me. Tonight will end in caresses and whispers, because that is what's done. Part of the experience, part of the magic, even if neither of us agrees. But it means safety. I have no guarantee of what I might find should I fly away with Peter.

I once heard it said that it takes much longer to write about a powerful moment than it takes to live it. When my eyes finally come back to rest where Peter is, only a moment later, he is cautiously moving toward me, as though he might frighten me with a sudden movement. I wait, puzzled and still distracted by the decision before me. Peter tentatively raises his hand and brushes the back of it along my cheek, looking as nervous as a little boy with the first girl he ever thought was pretty. He drops his hand to grasp mine, and slowly brings me to the window. Once there, he turns and glides (if you could call the movements of a nervous boy gliding) until he is just outside my window, facing me. I take a few steps back, still hesitant.

Peter reaches out to me with one hand and sets the other on my window frame. I look over my shoulder towards the hall. I can hear my mother growing ever more impatient. It brings to mind what I will leave behind if I choose the boy at my window. My mother. Father. Brother. My best friend Haley. She's waited an eternity for this night in this dress with this boy. She would be furious if she thought I had ditched her with no explanation.

Peter's voice reaches me, quiet but undeniably there. "Forget them. Forget them all. Come away to Neverland, where you'll never, never have to worry about grown-up things again." And then I know what I will choose.

I move towards my window, farther and farther from my future and ever closer to my wish.

I smile and step up onto my window seat, my feet just visible beneath the beautiful red crush of silk that the world will never see me wear. I take Peter's hand with a gentle squeeze, and whisper, "I will go with you." His face glows, and I motion for him to move away from the window.

I quickly change into more sensible adventuring clothes. When I am done, I lay the beautiful red dress on my bed. My mother will find it after I am gone, and so I also leave a note that says 'Back after spring cleaning. I love you.' Peter comes back into the window. "Are you ready?" he asks, still smiling from ear to ear. I match my smile to his. "Race you there." The eternal boy reaches into his pocket and douses me with fairy dust until my hair and skin shimmer, and then I fly.

When I reach my window, I look back into the now only moonlit room, on the red dress that was meant to guide me into my future. I smile fondly and turn my back. Let them keep the future. I have better now.

I meet Peter up above the trees, and he takes my hand and points out the star. As we move towards it, the strangest idea comes into my mind.

All children grow up...except two.


End file.
